Making a Difference By Teaching

I have realized that I can start changing the school for the better via the lessons that I teach classes. I will be going from class to class, teaching them about things they can do to make the world better, and telling them what it's like to be discriminated by others. And I will do that until all students have listened to the lesson. I will be the voice of the discriminated, or something like that. I will give a voice to those who are weak, and unfairly discriminated, and are scared to speak for themselves. Matthew. C, the voice of... in one word, who are the people I am going to be the voice for?

Some Minor Miscalculations

Apparently, I won't be teaching the AP class today, as I had thought. But I did do a draft for my poster. Oh ya, I forgot, I didn't tell you about that yet. I didn't get access to the intercom, so I am making a poster instead. And, thank goodness, I am still going to go horse riding today.

Big Day

Today is a big day for me. There are three big things that I am going to do today. The first of those things is teaching the advanced placement class. Definitely looking forward to it. Then I will be working on a poster. And last but not least, after school I will be going horseback riding for the first time since I was three. I can't wait!

Preparation For My Next Class

Later today I will be practicing my lesson for my next class. Not the next class of the day, but the next class I am going to teach. I am going to, to be safe, practice giving the lesson to a smaller class before I teach the Advanced Placement class. I don't want to sound unprofessional when teaching the kids who are in another classroom because of their surprisingly good grades. I will also, I am pretty sure, get to see the class and/or classroom that I will be teaching later today as well. Either way, teaching them will be fun. Heck, its always fun to go above and beyond my expectations. And it is proving a point. If you haven't figured it out already, I am teaching the lesson to a smaller class first so that I can get a good idea of what I will say, not so I can practice being in front of a crowd. I am not scared of standing on stage in front of tons of people and performing. If I embarrass myself, I just turn it into a joke and laugh along with the crowd. I just want to sound professional when I am teaching kids who have higher IQs than me. So wish me luck with that.

Making a Difference

I want to make a difference, and change the world for the better. And I have a long life ahead of me to do so. So I am starting by trying to contribute to different things, like the creation of an augmented reality device, or a book  about what people can do to make the world a better place, and be better people. And eventually, I will be leading my own cause towards changing the world for the better. But it is going to be hard. Heck, not many people know I exist. But as I said, I have a long life ahead of me to achieve my goal.

One Of My Teacher's Books Is Being Made Into a Movie

Kind of a long title, ey? Well I am going to start this off by saying that this post is not sponsored. Anyways, let's get to the post! One of my teachers, James Patterson (I take his Masterclass) is finally going to have one of his books made into a movie, and sadly it isn't the Maximum Ride movie (seriously, Patterson, how long will you keep us waiting for that Maximum Ride movie that is supposedly being made?). The book that will be made into a movie is one of the books in the Rafe Kachadorian series, about a middle-schooler. And I reckon that either the movie will become very popular, or it will not be very popular at all. Hopefully not the latter. Anyways, I will probably watch it.

The Meta 2

I am going to start off by saying that this post is not sponsored by the creators of Meta 2. I wish it was. Maybe you have heard about it already, maybe not. But if you haven't, you will now. The Meta 2 is a Augmented Reality headset. Not virtual reality. Virtual reality does not put things in the world around you, it puts you in a virtual world. But an augmented reality headset lets you see things in the world around you, and add more stuff, like holograms. The person who is making the Meta 2 says that he made it to be a much more natural computer. How do they do that? Well, a big part of it is the fact that you are the operating system. It can browse the internet, and do many other things. It can be used by architects, interior designers, scientists, and many other people with hard jobs. It basically shows you holograms in front of you, and that you grab, and touch, and move around. Let's say you want to buy a car, and want to see it's features. Look it up, and take the image out of the browser, and then you can grab the bottom of the car, the roof of the car, and pull it open, allowing you to see, and move around, all the parts. And it gets better. If another person has the headset on, it allows you both to see, interact with, and use the same hologram. Even if you are in different countries. Because when you call someone, you see them in front of you, and they see you in front of them. And you could literally play a game of catch through the telephone. Just thinking about it makes me really, really, REALLY  want one. First of all, it is freaking awesome! Second of all, it would really help me, both in school, and when I grow up and leave home. It could help me in so many ways. One of those ways is helping me speak as smoothly as I write. See, it is quite hard for me to form proper sentences as I say them. But that problem doesn't effect my writing in the slightest. So if I had the Meta 2, I could stand in front of a big crowd, and give a speech or presentation without a single stutter. It would also help me manage money, taxes, investments, sales, et cetera. I could manage the sales from my writing and blogging by looking around me, and move them around with ease. The person who invented it said that their plan is, in five years, to replace all phones with it. I sure hope I get one of those to replace my phone in five years! Please leave a comment saying what you would do with the Meta 2 if you got one.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is brave enough to state his racist intentions in front of the entire world, smart enough to become known all around the world by pretty much everyone, but dumb enough to, in the end, lose the election. Not surprisingly, many people have voted for him, and again not surprisingly, none of those people dare show their face or tell people that they voted for him. Trump was a game show host, and is still a billionaire. He knows enough basic psychological tactics to know how to become a third of The News nowadays, and as I said before, become much more famous than the other people trying to get elected. Trump's plans are both very dumb, and very un-American, but with a somewhat good reason behind them. He wants to kick out illegal immigrants so less Americans are without jobs. And kick out Muslims so the bombings stop. But America is supposed to be the land of the free, where you can feel free to believe in any religion you want, without having to worry about being shot. And to get rid of illegal immigrants, he is going to make the immigrants build a wall to block themselves out, and he would also have them use their own money to do so. If Trump gets elected, I plan to high tail it out of America and into Canada before Trump starts a war, accidentally or not. because war is what happens when you kick people out because of their religion, and kick others out partly because of where they are from, or their race.

If a Tree Falls In a Forest

I'm sure you have all heard the philosophical saying "If a tree falls in a forest, and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?", and the answer is yes, it does make a sound, but that sound makes no impact. And that is a good example of something that has been kind of frustrating me recently. See, I made this blog to get my story out there, meet new people, and maybe even brighten up somebody's day whenever I can do that through my writing. And so far, after months of blogging, I only have six followers, and all of them are people I see daily, and already know. And sure, it is a good way to communicate with them when I can't see them in person, but going back to what I said earlier, the "sound" of my blog hasn't made an impact that I know of. I can't tell whether or not people are checking on my blog whenever I post, or if people just pass by my blog. In fact, I wonder just how honest the page view count is. Once, as a test, I posted nothing for a few days, and when I checked on the page view, it hadn't changed. But when I posted something, and checked on the page view count again, about 30 people had viewed in the past 5 minutes. Which seems kind of suspicious. I half believe that it automatically makes it seem like I get page views when I post, instead of people actually viewing my blog. See, I don't know how to get people to find my blog. But I do have an idea. When Spot went missing, after I had posted about it, I searched "Spot" in google, and at the top of the list of results was my blog post about Spot. And n image of another cat that looked exactly like Spot that apparently lives in Massachusetts. But the question is, would Google really put links to my blog posts in people search results like that for free? Or is it just fooling me by putting it in my search results? They could do that, since I always use my gmail account for Google. Perhaps I could do a test. I could title a post with some very commonly searched words. But how can I figure out what words are commonly searched in Google, and would be a good blog post title. Other than a psychology-aided guess. Actually, a research-based guess wouldn't be that bad of a way to figure out what words to use. Hmm. 'Donald Trump' and 'Memes' are two titles that might work, but would they bring the kind of people I want to view my blog? Maybe, maybe not. Well, I will work more on that later. Anyways, I have been working on a title image for my blog. Here it is so far.

Happy Easter!

Today is Easter. Obviously. And this is how my Easter has been so far. When I woke up,  I did the traditional family Easter egg hunt. Then I watched a lot of videos to entertain myself (including a Ted Talk video about the future and augmented reality headsets, while eating some delicious chocolate. And when I say some, I mean some. In my family, most of the big celebrational candies we get on holidays like Halloween or Easter aren't eaten until days later. Anyways, that was pretty much my day up until a few minutes ago. See, I just finished decorating Easter eggs, another common family tradition. Here is a picture.

The best looking eggs are the ones my Mom made. The eggs I made are the three on the left, if you cut the image in half. Well, if you did that, my blue egg would have been cut in almost-half. That blue egg is the egg I decorated with a semi-classic style. The top-most egg, with the weird design, was drawn to look like it was a hovercar egg. I was originally trying to turn it into a blimp, but I made a few drawing mistakes, since I am not good at drawing neatly (due to my slightly shaky hands), and I covered the original design with the hovercar design. The yellow egg I made has "Egg Co" written on the side that you can't see, and the side you can see is supposed to be the logo of the made up "Egg Co", with the words "Only the best" written under it. Now I am about to dig into Easter dinner. Yum! And if any of my teachers are reading this, see you tomorrow.

"I Can't Hear The Dirt Anymore"

Yesterday my mom was away for most of the day, so I met up with a friend of mine, named Andrew and we walked to the movie theater. From there, we (obviously) watched a movie. Then we went to the house of  Noah, another one of my friends. There, we did minecraft, watched some videos, played with airsoft machineguns, and played a version of hide and seek made for small houses, where the seeker(s) have (a) blanket(s) over their head(s) so they can only see a few feet in front of them. They have to move quite slowly, so the hider can re position themselves. Did I mention that Noah is 18 or 19 and Andrew is 17? That is how you know you live in a good neighborhood, when all age variations of youth enjoy hanging out, and have a shared idea of what kind of stuff is fun. With us, it is LARPing, gaming, video watching, woodworking, bike riding, archery, and other fun games we make up on the spot. Anyways, while we were playing minecraft, one of us had the idea to use Noah's phone to check the name of minecraft's different background musics. All of the songs had pretty fitting and unique names, except for one, which had a unique, but not fitting name. When we were checking the names of the songs that play in the Nether dimension (A place in minecraft that resembles some variation of hell), we saw that there were only two songs that played there. One was called Dead Voxel, and the other was called.... you would never guess it.... the Ballad Of Cats. That's right, there is creepy background music called the Ballad Of Cats. I wonder if it was named that as an easter egg for anyone who checked the names of the song, or if the artist who made it thought it reminded him of cats for some reason. But that's the first part of our time playing minecraft that really made us laugh. The second part came when I realized how silly a sentence was. See, Noah hates the sound of rain in minecraft, and turned off the games volume to get rid of it. And Andrew was digging up dirt. And in minecraft, breaking and placing blocks (the whole world of minecraft is made of blocks) makes noise. So Andrew said "I can't hear the dirt anymore." when the volume was turned off. I am sure it would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't then repeated it in an insane person voice to point out just how odd that sounded. Then we all burst out laughing for who knows how long. And thus, an inside joke was made. But the best part of my time there was yet to come. At some point, someone accidentally texted Andrew asking what to do to fix their iphone, thinking they were texting somebody else. And we had the following conversation. Andrew: "Should we just say that they have the wrong number?"          Me and Noah: "Of course not!"       Andrew: "What should I say?"           Noah: "Help them with their phone."             Me:"Not yet!"         Andrew:" Then what do I say?"         Me, grinning:"I can't hear the dirt anymore."      Noah, starting to laugh at the prospect of what the reaction would be: "Ya!!"         Andrew:"Okay." and Andrew did indeed proceed to text "I can't hear the dirt anymore." to whoever had texted him. About an hour later, the person replied, and the following texts were exchanged. Person: I'm sorry, what?           Andrew: Sorry, I meant to send that to somebody else. But yes, I can help you.         Person: Should I call you?         Andrew: No. My phone can't send or receive calls for some reason. And I can't hear the dirt anymore. Perhaps they are related.         Person: So, what should I do?           Andrew: Sorry, gtg. I need to do something right now. But maybe I could talk to you about this next time I see you.            Person: Okay, see you then. (That is it, everything following this is not something that was texted). Then Noah said, jokingly: "Now you have their number forever. Each year, on Thursday, at 5:00pm, you can text them something random." and I said, also jokingly: "Ya, that'll give you enough time to come up with the next message.". I am pretty sure I was at Noah's place for about 6 hours. Man, those days are the kind of days that you get only in the summer.

Spot Is Back!!!!!!!

If you can't tell from the title, Spot is back. See, this is why I am an optimist. Even if everything seems to be going wrong, there is still a chance that things could get better, or not be nearly as bad as they seem. And yes, I admit, I cried over the supposed loss of a family member, but never did I entirely doubt that he was alive. So I went outside for one last search, and when I went to my backyard, I saw movement in the mini-forest that has enveloped a portion of the yard, and when I turned to look, Spot came running from a bush, right into my arms. Then poor Spot had to endure the big welcome from the rest of the family. He was very bewildered by what seemed to him like very odd and excited behavior of humans. I wonder where he was all of last night and today. In the end, I did learn, from experience this time, a life lesson. The lesson is that you never fully appreciate something until you lose it. Tonight we are going out to eat to celebrate Spot coming back from the presumed dead. Anyways, here are some more pictures of Spot to end this post.

 

Spot is Gone!

Spot, one of my two cats, went missing last night. Usually, he comes home in the morning when he does that, but not this time. It is already lunch time! I am really worried. Spot is very reckless for a cat, and doesn't really think about consequences. Add that to how much faith he has in his own skill, his curiosity, and his eagerness to fight anything he doesn't like, he might end up dead. And I am not sure I am ready for his death. Right now I am sitting on my couch with my other cat, Tabby, who is older than me and has been with me all my life. His presence is reassuring in times like this. Here is a picture of Spot. Oh man, he better be okay! The house just wouldn't be the same without his playfulness and bliss. But with every passing hour, there is less and less hope of him ever returning home.

The Winter Exodus so far.

    I walked toward the train, the rest of my troop somewhere in the crowd of soldiers on the boarding platform. When I reached the edge of the platform, I stopped. I turned around, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. And luck was with me. I spotted one of the soldiers from my troop,      Troop A, and waved to him. After a few moments, he saw me and came over, pushing through a small group of chatting soldiers that I thought were from Troop C. As he got closer, I could see his face. His name was Jack Yalima, but he told us to call him Jay, and it was more of an order than a request. I figured that he had been teased for his last name in school, and that’s why he went by Jay. Jay was young, probably about 21 years old, and somehow got the troop leader to let him grow a short, trim beard. He had blue eyes and blondish hair. I was pretty sure he had joined the army when he was in the middle of college. Which reminded me of a question I had been wanting to ask him. “Hey Mark! I’m glad to see I’m not the only Troop A soldier here.” Jay said. “So, what’s up?” “Not much, Jay. Just thinking about this big mission we are about to embark on.” I said. “Just like all the other soldiers here are.” “I guess that makes sense.” Jay said. “Did you bring the snacks?” “Yes. But let’s wait until we really need them.” I replied. “Oh, sorry to change the topic, but I have been meaning to ask you a question.” “Ask away.” Said Jay, obviously wondering what I would ask him. “But you'll have to speak up so I can hear you better.” “Good point” I said, raising my voice a bit. Jay was right- the crowd was very loud, with every soldier no doubt chatting with his friends. “Well, I have always wondered why you joined the army. And I haven’t really gotten around to asking you until now.” “Oh, well you see,” he said, clearly a bit taken aback by the question. “I figured that I could probably do more good protecting my country then I could bored to my wit’s end at college.” “Hmm.” I said. “Okay.”. Jay looked like he was going to say more, but as he opened his mouth, the train arrived, slowing to a stop in a position where you could not access the front of the train from the boarding platform, but you could easily get into the cars. “Well, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting.” Said Jay. “What about you? Were you expecting this?” “Actually, I was.” I replied, looking at the train. “It is a very convenient train for the military, and has added bonuses, like, for example, the fact that nobody expects a freight train to carry the military.”. The train was indeed a freight train, with rusty metal cargo cars, and a more well kept cargo car at the very back, no doubt for the troop leaders. Me and Jay were stepping towards a car, when one of the soldiers inside stepped into the open door. “Sorry, this is full. Go find another car.” Said the soldier. “How do we know which one isn’t full?” I said. “I mean, quickly.” “Find a car with a closed door.” He said. “Hurry.”. Me and Jay walked along the cars and saw that none of them had closed doors. “Do you think he was pranking us?” Asked Jay. “Because it certainly looks like he did.” “I don’t know.” I replied. “But would he? I mean, that would have quite the penalty if we ended up stuck here because of that.”. Ya, if they for some reason had a shortage of soldiers. Once we die, we are replaced. So why not early? Suddenly, the train started pulling away. “What the-” I said, surprised. “Hey!” “Stop t-”. Jay said, before being interrupted by the train stopping. The train had only moved forward enough to give the remaining soldiers access to the cargo boxes farther towards the end of the train. “Huh, I thought those were for actual cargo” Jay said. “Who says it isn’t?” I replied. Jay frowned as he realized the truth in what I said. In times of war, do war tacticians really plan out, in full, shining, perfect detail, how the soldiers will ride a train? Jay and I walked up to a car, slid open the door, and climbed inside. I had just closed the door again, when a medic opened it and climbed in. “Close the door behind you, and don’t forget to wipe your boots on the doormat.” Said Jay sarcastically. “Welcome to your new home.” “Sadly, this really is our new home for a few days.” Said the medic, pointing towards the back of the car. “Those slightly cushioned benches are our beds.”. I looked where he pointed, and sure enough, there were four, slightly cushioned benches. “Oh, I thought those were just the luxury couches for the people in the back of the line to the front line.” I said sarcastically. “Glad to see I will be staying with optimists.” Said the medic, smiling. “I guess we should introduce ourselves, right?” “Good idea.” Said Jay. “Let’s start with you. Me and you’ll-know-his-name-soon already know each other.” “Well that simplifies this a bit.” Said the medic. “My name is Johnny. Johnny Marx. But you can call me John.” “Nice to meet you, John.” I said. “My name is Mark.”   “Got a last name?” Asked John. “Yes.” I said. “Flan.” “And what’s your name?” Asked John, shifting his gaze to Jay. “I go by Jay.” said Jay. “And that’s an order, not a request.” I added. The train whistle sounded twice, and they sat down, each on a different bunk.

              Perhaps it was the cold, or maybe how uncomfortable the bed was, that woke me up. Probably both. I was a bit hungry, so I figured I might as well look through the crates at the front of the car and see if I could find some food. Maybe even a book. I had tried to bring a book with me, but they made me bring a pistol and holster instead of the fanny pack I use to carry a book on missions. And to make things worse, I was not allowed to take off the holster, nor am I allowed to store the gun anywhere other than the holster. So I had to sleep on my stomach or left side to get any sleep. I pulled the top off one of the crates, and looked in. Inside were pieces of what looked like a heavy, mounted machine gun, similar to a gattling gun. Why would they need that unlocked for the trip? There was only one stop, and that was the final destination. Well, it was interesting, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I put the top back on. My eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness, and I could barely make out some kind of image on the crate top. I looked closer and saw that it was a label. I couldn’t tell for sure, but I was pretty sure it was labeled ‘Spare Nametag Protectors”. The one thing no soldier would really want or need to open, but makes sense to be there. Suspicious. After a bit of searching, I saw the food container. It was on a kind of shelf at the top of the front wall of the car. Out of reach. Theories were already forming in my head, but I decided to push them aside. Maybe the medic brought a book. After all, medics don’t have to carry as many guna and as much ammo as a normal  soldier did. All a medic had to carry was a semi-auto handgun and their medical supplies. So I wouldn’t be surprised if John had brought a book. I walked over to the medic, and located his medic bag. After a moment of rifling through medical suplies, I fished out a book. I also managed to cut my hand in the process. How ironic. It was a clean, and small, cut. Nothing to waste bandages on. I would just ignore it and hope that I don’t get blood on the book. Finally something to do when there is nobody to talk to. What a relief. As I laid back down on the bed, if you want to call it that, and started to read. It reminded me of when I was a young kid. Ever since I was a little kid, I would, if I couldn’t sleep, grab a book and read it in the dark, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, and minutes later I would fall asleep. I smiled. I opened one of my eyes slightly, before the weight of my eyelid forced it closed. There was a vague voice. “Go away.” I muttered groggily. Somebody was shaking me, and a bit violently. The vague voice stopped for a bit. I thought I could hear two people talking. “THE BRITISH ARE COMING THE BRITISH ARE COMING! GRAB YOUR GUNS AND FIRE BACK!!” Somebody yelled. I shot up into a sitting position, my eyes wide open and my gun in my hand. John was eyeing Jay, who was smiling. “See, look at that, John. It always works.” Said Jay. “When Mark has to wake up early, you either have to pull him out of bed and punch him in the gut, or yell like we are under attack.” “Alright, Jay, you proved me wrong.” John said, sounding a bit tired. “But don’t go thinking I am going to give you my five dollars. That was just a joke.”. By then, I had my gun back in it’s holster and was instead brandishing an annoyed frown. “Did you have to wake me like that? What if I shot one of you by accident?!” I exclaimed. “This better be important.”        “It is, and even if you don’t think it is, you will still like it.” Said John. “Oh, and Jay, I found that offensive. If you can’t tell by my accent, I am british. And so are a bunch of other soldiers on this train.” “Sorry, John.” Said Jay. “Oh, and SORRY EVERYONE ELSE HERE WHO IS BRITISH!!!!” “So, guys, what is so important?” I said, trying to be patient. “And I noticed that you turned my gun’s safety on. Good thinking.” “That was my idea.” Said John. “But that much should be obvious.” “So, the thing that is so important,” Jay said, looking towards the front of the car. “Is that the food crate has been moved down.”. And indeed it had. I looked over at the crates and indeed saw that the food crate had been moved from it’s perch on the rack down to the floor, and sat there, unopened. “And you guys didn’t open it without me?” I asked, kind of surprised. “After all, we have gone for at least a day without food.” “Jay made me wait.” John said. “Otherwise, there would be no food left by now.” “That I did.” Said Jay, smiling. “After all, good friends help each other, right?” “Same rules apply to military teams in general.” I said Jokingly. “Thanks, Jay. Now, lets quite chatting and stuff our mouths with whatever is in there!” “I second that!” Said John happily. Me and Jay opened the crate, and to our surprise, there was fresh fruit. “My mom would always tell me to eat my fruit instead of junk food, and that they would taste better, but I never did agree with that until now.” Said John, who was peering into the box from over my shoulder. We each grabbed one fruit, held it up, and did cheers, but with fruit instead of beer mugs. I bit into the fruit I had grabbed, a mango, and in mere seconds I had devoured it. And so had Jay and John, with their chosen fruits. After we ate a few more fruit each, we sat back down on our “bed”s and didn’t say much, because we were deciding what we wanted to talk about. And suddenly, I remembered what I had seen in the name tag supply crate last night. Should I tell them? It could just be nothing. But then that… nagging suspicion… hmm… I feel… “Does anybody else feel tired?” I asked. “Because I am suddenly very sleepy.” “Same here.” Said Jay. John Probably said something similar, but I didn’t pay attention. “I found a, a… I found a…” I said, trying to tell them about what I found, but my eyes were already closing, and I slipped away into a no doubt drug induced hibernation.                             I was the first to open my eyes. I got up and looked around. John and Jay were still out like two lights in a blackout. There was also a big machine gun with a huge clip on a huge tripod with a swivel joint connecting it to the gun. A metal seat was extended from somewhere on the gun. A chill went down my spine, but not from the machinegun. It was from the air that I then realized was quite cold. It wasn’t that cold when I fell unconscious. I slid one of the doors open and saw a hilly winter wonderland, dotted with a few trees. Of course, that did nothing to help the cold, so I quickly slid it shut again. I thought back to the name of the mission. The Winter Exodus. Now I understand the name. I wonder who names these missions. Because surely “Move to Snow” would work just as well. Perhaps that’s just one of mysteries that nobody bothers looking into. I walked back to the bunks and started looking that back of the car over. Jay was slumped on the floor. That’s what you get for leaning forward off the side of the bunk when a feeling of extreme fatigue, Jay. John was leaned back against the car wall, still in a sitting position. I had never before realized that John was considerably taller than me and Jay, and mentally noted the fact. I also duly noted the fact that neatly folded and pressed military jackets were laid on each bunk, one jacket per one person. And on the floor was a small note. I picked it up and read it. We have reached Phase Two of our mission, and your orders are the following: Use the 85B Pass-By Machinegun to take out any and all people or vehicles that are not confirmed to be one of our units. We assure you that all civilians in this area have been properly evacuated from the area. You can find extra ammo in the crate labeled “I5B7”. And the food you found has been replaced with less counter intuitively drugged meals. We apologize for the mixup of food crates. Several Night Vision goggles, equipped with high-quality zooming abilities, have been placed in a crate next to the ammo crate. Good luck.      -Rick Abby Clarkson. I wondered why all mission notes were written by whoever Rick was. Well, I guess I knew who he was. He was Rick Abby Clarkson. But that still isn’t much. Before I either die or leave the army, I would like to meet Rick. That guy seems both secretive and not, and I reckon we could share a few good, long conversations. I remembered how when I went on my first mission, I was surprised that a mission-specific note sent by superiors would be written in fancy handwriting, and even more surprised that it was signed with not only a first and last name, but a middle name too. Nobody really knew if it was a fake name, or not. I personally didn’t trust everything that Rick said. But I know that whether I like it or not, orders are orders. So I went over to crate “I5B7” and took out the goggles. They looked a bit like Virtual Reality goggles, but the front of it was one big lense for looking out, instead of a screen on the inside. It had the usual buttons to toggle NV and heat detecting, but the usual zoom buttons were replaced with a scrollwheel. A few minutes later, I was wearing a jacket that kept me at a good temperature, and had my fancy shmancy, if bulky, goggles strapped to my forehead. “Mark, you going fox hunting or something? It must be funner than this.” Jay said, now awake and picking himself off the floor. “But if you are looking to use that gun, I suggest you put on your heavy duty ear protection.”     “Hey Jay.” I said, checking my head and seeing that I was indeed going to use a mounted machinegun without ear protection. “Thanks for the suggestion. I probably would have blown my ears out.”   “And ours.” Said Jay, motioning with one hand at our medic. “That thing must have loads of decibels packed into it’s clips just waiting to wake even the sleeping 80 year old no doubt sleeping 8 miles away.”               “Hey, it’s not like any normal bugel can wake a hibernating Jay.” I said jokingly. “And who knows how deep the medic sleeps.” “The medic.” Said Jay, answering the question I more stated than asked. “Obviously.” “Like my new goggles? They were prescribed with extra zoom power.” I joked. “They said my last goggles weren’t powerful enough to read text from a mile away.”. But my joke was wasted, because Jay had already put on ear protection, and was putting a second pair on John. I waved my hand for his attention. I tapped my jacket and pointed at the bunks, then mouthed “Don’t forget the Jackets”. About an hour had passed, and I was still manning the swivelling turret. I had it pointing out the left door, and was silently scanning the hillsides and trees for a sign of life. Jay was doing the same, but was instead looking out the right door. The medic was still asleep. Which was a bit worrying. But not as worrying as the fact that the train was slowing to a stop. But at least it wasn’t boring. A loud, shrill, multi tone whistle sounded, this whistle specifically meaning “drop what you are doing, hit the deck, and be ready for orders and/or a gunfight.”, or something along those lines. Jay, who was sitting in the righthand doorway of the car, letting his legs dangle outside, stood up and removed his goggles and ear protection. I did the same. “Should we take the ear protection off of John?” Asked Jay. “He could be in the middle of a wonderful dream, and we wouldn’t want to risk letting a loud noise wake him from a good dream.” “Come on, Jay.” I said, smiling, glad to once again be enjoying a conversation. “You know the rules.”. As Jay removed the ear protection from John, I stood in the righthand doorway, holding onto the doorway with my right hand, and leaning out to look at the cars ahead of theirs. I thought I saw movement somewhere way ahead, but it was hard to tell. So I used more than 20% of my noggin and put my goggles back on. Using the advanced zoom, I was able to see a few figured going from car to car, stopping at each one for only a few seconds, probably to give something to the soldiers within. So I took off the goggles, turned them off, sat down on my bunk, and waited. About five minutes later, there was a knocking on the righthand car door. Jay had closed both doors a minute ago to conserve heat. “I got it” I said, getting up and walking to the sliding door. I slid it open about half way. Standing outside was a troop leader, wrapped up in a heavy jacket, and no doubt as snug as a bug in a rug. “Hello “ He said, hesitating, no doubt to remember my name, before speaking again. “Mark. Here are your orders, and everything you need, or rather, John needs, is under his bunk. Bye.” “Well bye to you to.” I said, as the troop leader walked away. I slid closed the door and walked back to my bunk, sitting down. “So we need John for something now? Well that could be problematic.” Said Jay. “Shall we see what lies beneath the sleeping dragon’s nest?” “Affirmative.” I said. Jay got down into an army crawl and popped his head under John’s bunk. Then he reached his arms under the bunk. Seconds later, Jay emerged, a sleek, long, silenced sniper rifle in his hands. “This must be how our doctor here makes his money.” Jay said humorously.

Google Drawing

I have some good news and bad news about my life right now. But before I tell you that news, I am going to let you know that I thought that today was Easter. And waking up and realizing it isn't is the bad news. And the good news is that I started to use Google Drawing. I will have an idea in my head, then I will start taking images and editing their sizes, shapes, et cetera, and putting them together to form a scene. But, sadly, I do not know how to show you guys and gals my creations.

Already Bored, Darnit

Darn. It is only the first day of spring break, and I am already bored. It is hard to find any good games for my google cardboard, and most of the good games I have got for it so far have either lots of minor glitches and bugs, or one or two big glitches/bugs that end up ruining the experience. And I have done everything else I can think of doing to entertain myself, too. I have played video games, watched youtube videos, wrote, read, pet my cats, et cetera. If you have any ideas of things to do, comment the idea in the comments section of this post.

WiFi, Spring Break, and New Virtual Reality Device

Today is a good day. It is a Friday, after all. And today is an especially good Friday, as Fridays go. I got a new VR device recently and I got to bring it in, the school WiFi is back up, and I will return home at the end of the day to Spring break. I even got here on time this morning. Right now, one of my teachers is trying to find and download an app for the device that lets you look around within a news documentary. Which reminds me. I think that virtual reality could be the future of teaching. Wouldn't that be cool? Anyways, I am not done with the short story yet, so hang in there.

Sorry I Haven't Been Blogging Much Recently

But really, I am. I haven't been able to blog because the WiFi here has been shut down. The only WiFi that is still on here is the staff WiFi, and that is password protected. And only people who work here for a living have access to it. And I am not a full staff member, I just teach classes from time to time. And because I am only a student teacher (Teachudent? semi-teacher? Half and half? Wait, isn't half and half a type of coffee?) I don't get exclusive WiFi. And that is problematic, especially since I need WiFi to access all my work, be it work as a student, or work as a teacher. And, you may be wondering, how am I typing this write (yes I still use that pun) now. The answer is simple. Well, to me it is. Let me explain. See, back before I started this blog, and before I ever thought I would get a Tabtop (Tabtop, Lablet? Potato Potahto? What?), I used this bulky old IBM Thinkpad laptop. Specifically this one. Once I got my chromebook, I didn't need it anymore and let a different kid use it. And, if you haven't guessed by "This bulky old IBM Thinkpad. Specifically this one.", I am once again using it. But why, you may ask (though I doubt you are actually asking that right now). See, this is the only laptop I have access to that automatically connects to the staff WiFi. My theory is that back when these were in use, a staff member used it, and used the staff WiFi. So they made it so the laptop automatically connected to it. And when it was time to put it in the surplus room in the library to make room for new technology, they didn't change that. Oh, and I also have some cool news to tell you about what is upcoming on my blog. I am currently writing a long short story. And no, I am not writing the twilight zone, or a medium book, I am writing a short story that is longer than I usually write my short stories when I write short stories. And when I am done, I will post it here. So feel free to look forward to it!

Longer Evenings vs Everybody's Schedule

Blargh. Daylight savings time has messed up my sleep schedule. I rarely get enough sleep anymore because of it. I had a set schedule, set to certain times, and suddenly those times were all scrambled, and moved. And it's not like I can get any sleep on my morning bus, even with ear protection on. I asked why we have daylight savings time, and I was told that it was so we have longer evenings. Personally, I get home in time to enjoy a bit of a short evening before heading inside. But then, that's just me and other students, and a portion of people with jobs. And for a lot of people who don't get home when I do, I guess a nice, long, sunny evening would be worth the confusion that comes from time changing. And for the people who don't like it (or people who just love complaining), it gives them yet another thing to grope about. And for me? Well, I guess it's a 50/50. And it gives me something to write about on my blog (thanks captain obvious).

My View of Politics and Whatnot

Even if I am just some kid, I know a bit about politics. So I will talk about it. Nowadays, presidential election has gone from being a serious debate, to some sort of game. Mainly because of Trump. See, this is one of the reasons we shouldn't let game show hosts run for president. Trump literally treats it like some kind of game, using game show-like strategies to come out on top. It's horrible. I reckon that as he says racist and un-american things as he does, he is smiling inside because he knows that he will have his face on a third of the news, and everybody will know who he is, and know a lot about him just by speaking to other humans. And, as the saying goes, any attention is good attention, especially for Trump. People do similar things with games. They make a game that many parents will hate so that people will protest, and their games will be well known, on the news, and in conversation. And thus, more people end up buying those games. And some people use a Trump strategy for making popular video. They make videos where they insult and say bad things about someone or something that everyone loves. And because everyone hates it, everyone knows it exists, and tons and tons of people watch it and comment hate comments. I am sad that so many people out there don't realize that they are being tricked, and used like puppets. And now that trickery has very clearly invaded politics. At the very least, more people are paying attention to politics now. But I am disappointed in millions of people out there. We are humans, and we pride ourselves with our genius, and inventions, and complexity. But in the end, the human species' biggest and most dangerous predator is themselves. More humans are killed by fellow humans than humans have been killed by natural disasters. We are even destroying our planet with global warming. But seriously! There is so much we can do! We can build a huge filter in the ocean to create fresh water for those who need it, and we can fix global warming if we really try. We can even make cities that survive natural disasters with ease. Well, we can if people decide that saving the only planet we can get to that we can survive on. I think that we shouldn't have to pay tons of money for parts and workers and land that's needed to save the freaking planet. And billions of people seem too lazy to try to fix the world. If we don't do something, the advanced and "genius" species of humans will all die because of problems that we made and didn't bother to fix. Wouldn't that be ironic? And as far as I know, none of the people running for president will actually try to fix this either.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Woke Up Late

Last night, I went to bed at around 2:00 in the morning. I blame the shift in time. The radio in the kitchen said it was 10:00 when it was 11:00. Anyways, I don't think my mother could wake me up, because I awoke at 10:00 AM or so. Or was it 11? Anyways, that was one of those rare mornings, or nights, or whatnot, when I actually get a good nine hours of rest. I also wrote another short story this morning. It's about an alien on a mission to research earth. Anyways, because I woke up so late, I missed most of the school day. Other people would be quite happy about that, but I am me, not those people. I am a bit happy that I have less work to do, but I still don't like skipping school, even if I don't skip the entire school day. Hmm. I feel like this post isn't long enough. Perhaps I can make up for that with my next post. But what will I post about? I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Hmm. I am trying to decide my last words. For this post, of course. No need to worry. I have an idea of what I will say to conclude this blog. Here goes.... _________.

I'm Impressed

Recently, I have found a series on youtube called a mc roleplay, referring to a roleplay done on minecraft. At first I wasn't expecting much from it, but as I watched the first few episodes, I got hooked. Which is impressive in and of itself. By now I am on to the beginning of season two of that series. And so far, I am impressed. The people who made it did a great job of expressing an original and creative story through a pixel game. They had good actors, good story, and did a great job of creating sort of "chapters" (one chapter=one video). I think that the people who made that series need more attention. As of now, their talent has gone kind of unnoticed. The series is called Parkside Prison mc roleplay. One of the reasons they aren't more popular, I think, is because other people did mc roleplays about other popular games.

Blargh!

Dumm magen!! Verdammt! If you can't tell, I said "Stupid Stomach! Darn!". When I swear, I swear in another language, and I don't even swear when I do. I frown on bad words. Anyways, my stomach hurts whenever I move. It hurts quite a lot. And this isn't a very good time or day or time of day to have this problem. Lunch just started. And not only is the lunch room at the opposite end of this educational facility, but I don't think I could eat much. And why is it a bad day to have this problem? Well, I guess you could argue that any/every day is a bad day to have this problem, but today just happens to be PE. One of the classes I am trying to get better grades in. And with my stomach in shambles, I either run around the school twice, do all the other crazy exercises I have to do in PE, then collapse on floor, gripping my stomach, or just skip PE. By the way, the only German I can speak and understand off the top of my head is "Ich nein dummkoph!". But a good thing about writing is that I can use a English to German translator. So perhaps I will study it more. Find some other useful terms. In fact, I am probably going to do that now.

Horse Camp Coming

I love horses, but the last time I rode one was when I was three years old. And I am probably going to go to a horse camp this summer. If you can't guess, I am very excited. My mom warns me that horses may be bigger than I expect. But then, as I said before, I rode one when I was three, and it must have been giant to me. And around that same age, I was taken up into one of those huge crane-like digging machines at a construction site, and it was shaking and moving the whole time. So I can pretty safely say that I am used to riding on or in vehicles/animals that are bigger than me. But I guess I will find out in a few weeks, when I go see the camp and meet the horses. More specifically, meet the horses I will have to trust. Isn't that right? You know, about horse riding being all about trust? Well, it better be right. And I guess I should hope I don't end up with a back-stabbing horse that betrays me at the most crucial time in my journey and- oh wait, that's a character you sometimes find in a book who betrays the main character around the middle of the book.

A Teacher Once Again

Today, I taught a class again. See, occasionally I teach 7th or 6th graders at my school. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I get the semi-teacher chair in The Room. I call it a Semi-Teacher chair because most teachers in The Room have spinney chairs, and all the other chairs in the room are normal plastic-and-metal chairs. All except for one. That one unique chair is cushioned, but not spinney. Anyways, today is the second time I've done the job of a teacher at my school. This time, like the first time, I used a presentation. Except this time, unlike the first time, it was more so a speech than reading from a presentation. I figured out what to say as I spoke. Or, in short, I was winging it. The speech was talking about some of my experience with 6th grade, and how to deal with the problems I faced, as well as fix the mistakes I made. I told it in a way that the 6th graders could relate to, as well as find entertaining. So here I am, sitting in my Semi-Teacher chair at my Semi-Teacher desk, proud of my lesson and hoping I get good credit for it. I like doing things beyond the expectation for students in The Room.

Youtube Comments

Let's start off by confirming that I am not sponsored by Youtube. Really, I'm not. Why would Youtube need to be advertised? Anyways, one of the things I like to do in my free time is look at the comments of youtube videos and come up with sort of clever replies. For example, once somebody commented on a video asking what the nae of the intro/outro song was. Judging by the grammar of the post, I didn't think they would know about famous composers. So I told them that the music (which was modern, electro-style music) was called The Flight of the Valkories. I wonder how long it will take that person to realize what song that really is. Another person asked the youtuber to do another Death Match in a video game. But they spelled "match" as "MACH". And they happened to have caps lock on or something when they wrote it. So I replied "Death MACH?! That doesn't sound very safe! I really suggest you leave that kind of stuff to the cosmonauts and pilots. Unless you are looking to lose your lunch.". You can tell why I love doing stuff like that.

Reading My Blog

When reading my blog, to fully enjoy it, you can't just read the last post. You have to read the posts before it, and keep coming back to check if I posted again. See, as of now, I like to post in bulk per day. Perhaps I should start posting one post per day and posting the other posts other days. Posts about my day will be posted on that day. But until then, please take that advice for reading my blog. If you don't, you might miss posts.

I Think I Haven't Posted This Mind Rambling Yet

Names. I think that originally, people didn’t have names. Originally, things had names so that they could be referred to specifically. But human names, I think, came after we got a decent language. Because that was when emotions became more what they are now and less what they used to be- which was mere instinct; anger, when hurt, to be able to fight more fiercely. Fear, to keep you away from danger. Joy, to make sure that you keep on doing something key to your survival, like a joy of hunting so that you don’t starve and die. That was in the caveman days. But language made emotions change more to how they are today. Things started to have sentimental value. Entertainment was invented. Love of a family member was created. Sadness for the death of a friend. Joy of a companion, like a animal. I think that when human names were invented, they were not invented to be referred to specifically- In those days, you just walk up to the person and point. People first had names because a son or daughter to a mother were more than just a item or place. The children were loved and cherished, and so where given names for sentimental value. The trend caught. Soon, most people had names. Some names were given religiously, perhaps at a ceremony or ritual. In such a situation, a lot of people got names at a older age, the name of which was chose to most fit the person. Last names came both for practicality and the same reason as first names. Practicality: Some people of different families had the same name, people wanted to refer to a entire family without saying each name individually, et cetera. Sentimentality or Other Emotional Reasons: To give a family pride, to represent a family or something the family represents, to establish each family and household as more than just a group of people. A name makes you more than just Human #7,680,594,992 of Place-In-The-World #2,685,465,194. It makes you more than just another object in life, and makes you more you. More unique.

Door Sense and Inner Compass

Many times I have called that someone is about to enter a room, and seconds later the door swings open and someone walks in. Other times, I walk out of a room and run into somebody I was about to go look for, like a technician or a specific teacher. Sometimes I can even call who is going to enter the room or be in the hall. It's an odd skill, if it can be called that. It's pretty much a mix of sixth sense and convenience. Which is nice. If my computer has problems, I just walk out the door, and chances are the technician is right outside, walking down the hall. Perhaps this has something to do with my inner compass. My inner compass is something else entirely. If I could find a good use for it in my daily life, it would be very convenient, but as of now it has been more annoying than convenient. My inner compass is basically that of a bird's. I know exactly which direction is which, even when I have been moved around without taking in every turn. Like, for example, I can point which way my house is facing, after being driven around in a windowless car turning all kinds of directions. I think my brain just takes mental note of each change in direction I am facing. I can't really think of a good use for it, but I can think of an inconvenience it causes me. If I ever travel, and have to stay in a bed other than my bed at home, I have to hope that it is facing the right way. If it isn't, then I end up having to sleep backwards, or even sideways, on the bed in order to get any sleep. I can conclude from this that, even though sixth senses and other things of the sort are supposed to be cool and useful, my combination isn't much. Sure it is interesting, but the only thing about it that is useful is my convenient timing with doors. And I still don't know exactly how I can have such a thing as my Door Sense. I can't think of any scientific explanation for it. And magic- well, personally I think that magic is just a cliche, one-word explanation for things that don't make sense to make them seem cool.  Well, I guess I should be thankful for odd things like a "Door Sense". And I guess I am thankful. I sort of wonder if I could, like, summon somebody. Though I doubt it. So, reader, please comment what you think an explanation for my Door Sense is. Meanwhile, I think I am going to turn my desk around.

Absent No More

The absent (and sometimes annoying) kid from my last post- well, if you can't figure it out from the title of this post, he is no longer absent. But he is still kind of annoying. I can't tell whether or not he appreciates the doughnut I saved him, but I doubt it would effect his behavior either way. You may be wondering what I find annoying about him. And I am not the kind of person who looks at someone for two seconds and proclaims they are annoying. So here are the annoying things he does. First of all, he will just walk up to my desk and start using my laptop without so much as asking for permission, or even telling me what he is about to do. So I will have to close my laptop whenever I am not near it, as long as he is in the room, from now on. Secondly, he has no respect for teachers and the rues they make. Nor, for that matter, does he respect personal space. Well, he is getting better at the latter part. Thirdly, I am going to stop numbering these reasons with words like "thirdly". He also makes inappropriate jokes sometimes. Now, I can ignore that, but when another, specific, kid is in the same room as him, they seem to constantly make obnoxious and inappropriate jokes. But those two kids aren't all bad. They are both decent people, especially when they are separated. One good thing about kids who behave annoyingly like that is this- they give me a good chance to practice putting up with that behavior.